


Days to Come

by magicianlogician12



Series: Heart of Steel [11]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 04:37:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7208063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicianlogician12/pseuds/magicianlogician12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the destruction of the Institute, Tabi comes to face the aftermath.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Days to Come

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a little rusty with Fallout writing since I haven't had much time or energy to do anything creatively. I managed to crank this out during my last hour at work; roughly edited, likely questionable quality, but here it is.

Haylen had thought the destruction of the Institute would bring Tabi more peace and less aloofness, but tonight, the opposite seemed to be the case.

It had been about a week since the Institute had been blown off the face of the Commonwealth. The Brotherhood continued to recover from their losses and integrate recovered technology into existing innovations. Tabi had been assigned general duties assisting where necessary as Sentinel, and had chosen to return to the Cambridge station.

At first, things had seemed normal. Tabi took a few missions from Haylen, departed with a peck on the lips, came back, and the cycle repeated. Over the past two days, though, there’d been a marked change in Tabi’s demeanor. She returned far more tired-looking than before, and Haylen had been on the verge of ordering Tabi to stay and rest for a day, Sentinel authority or not, when Tabi had announced her intention to do just that.

She’d spent several hours outside in the garage. Haylen knew her suit couldn’t have sustained that much damage in the places she’d been sent, unless she was repairing damage done during the assault on the Institute. She’d walked out earlier and asked if Tabi needed anything.

“No, thanks, Haylen.” she’d said, almost automatically, like she wasn’t putting any thought into the response. Haylen didn’t believe for a moment this was just exhaustion, but also knew better than to push Tabi about what was wrong. That would just result in a fight, and the last thing Haylen wanted to do right now, when they should have been rejoicing over their victory, was fight with Tabi.

Evening came and went, and the sun dipped below the horizon. When Haylen saw no sign of Tabi as the moon rose, she went back out to the garage.

Tabi sat leaned against one leg of her power armor, blue eyes lost in thought. “Coming to check on me?” she asked without looking up.

“You ask that like you’re surprised.” Haylen sat cross-legged next to Tabi and laced her fingers together. “You’ve been moping around here for the past several hours.”

“I don’t _mope_.” Tabi’s lip twitched into a slight smile, and Haylen was hopeful for a second before it dropped from Tabi’s face. “I’m just…organizing some thoughts.”

“Is it about the Institute?” Haylen asked. She couldn’t come up with anything else Tabi might be thinking about.

“Yes and no.” Tabi looked down, and her index finger traced absent-minded circles in the dust. “You remember why I first joined up, right?”

“You were looking for your best friend’s son. He’d been kidnapped.” it began to dawn on Haylen. “You thought the Institute might have taken him, but we never found him during the assault.”

Tabi laughed, but it was bitter. “Oh no, I found him long before the assault.”

That struck Haylen between the eyes, but she felt a nagging hint of dread. “Then…where is he?”

“Vaporized, with everyone else inside the Institute.” Tabi said, still unable to meet Haylen’s gaze. “He was the Institute’s director.”

Haylen was speechless for a moment. She found her words, “How long did you know?”

“Since my first trip into the Institute.” Tabi finally looked up at Haylen again. “It was dangerous to tell anyone then. My loyalty to the Brotherhood would likely have been called into question. Now he’s dead. Doesn’t really matter who knows, I guess.”

“That isn’t all that’s bothering you.” it wasn’t a question.

“No, that’s not all.” Tabi looked out of the garage again. “But I don’t want to talk about it. Not yet.”

“All right.” Haylen made a move to get up and let Tabi have some quiet time, but Tabi gripped one of Haylen’s sleeves. She looked down, hesitated. “Do you want me to stay?”

“If you don’t have anything more pressing to do.” Tabi was teasing, Haylen knew she was, but at the moment there was nothing more important than seeing the woman she loved through whatever crisis she was experiencing.

Haylen sat down again, but Tabi tugged her sleeve again, and this time Haylen crawled into her lap, letting Tabi wrap her arms around Haylen. Haylen wrapped her own arms around Tabi’s neck and felt the rhythm of her breathing.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Tabi asked suddenly. Without waiting for an answer, she continued, “You’re the best damn thing that ever happened to me.”

Haylen smirked even as she felt heat in her neck. “Flatterer.”

Tabi poked Haylen in the ribs, and she giggled in response, before they fell again into comfortable, peaceful silence.


End file.
